ATLANTIC CITY -- Veteran Jimmy Young showed once again that he still has something left at age 32, controlling the action throughout in a comprehensive 10-round decision over former prospect Marvin Stinson at the Sands Hotel on Tuesday.

The customarily defensive-minded Young surprised Stinson, who suffered his first loss in 16 pro bouts to Tim Witherspoon of Philadelphia in February, by coming out flat-footed in the first round. Young battered Stinson, who fell to 12-2-3 with 6 knockouts, with a series of clean combinations to the head, then established the jab.

The fight was meant as something of a get-well bout for Stinson, but Young belied his light-hitting image with a jarring uppercut at the bell.

After opening the second slipping and blocking Stinson’s swings, Young (27-10-2, 10) opened up again in the final 90 seconds, slamming home a pair of hard hooks late in the round.

The bout settled into a pattern in the third, with Young’s superior defense frustrating Stinson, who left himself open to enough counters to lose each round.

Trailing desperately entering the eighth, Stinson landed his best shot of the fight with a minute left in the frame. The left hook wobbled Young, but he quickly recovered with a salvo over the last 30 seconds that won him that round, as well.

One judge gave nine rounds to Young, who outpunched his younger foe by a ratio of better than 3-1, in part because Stinson was able to land fewer than 14 percent of his swings.

After the fight, Young said he wants another shot at No. 1 contender Gerry Cooney, who stopped him in four rounds in May 1980. Cooney struggled at times with Young’s slick defense before tearing open a hideous cut, which forced the stoppage.

“I got fat and sloppy against Cooney,” said Young, who weighed in at 224 before the defeat, but has come in under 220 during each of his fights this year. “I’m too quick and too slick for a big ox like him.”

Following a layoff of nearly a year, Young upset previously unbeaten Canadian Gordon Racette in his hometown of Nanaimo, British Columbia via 10-round decision.

Cooney is unlikely to risk his own perfect record against Young, particularly with a shot at the World Boxing Association title slated for fall, when he is slated to challenge the winner of next month’s meeting between Mike Weaver and James Tillis.

In the main supporting bout, Scott Frank of Oakland, N.J. stayed unbeaten by blowing out never-was Eddie Mallard via third-round technical knockout. Frank, whose only remotely recognizable opponents to date have been a 39-year-old Chuck Wepner and the bloated Ron Stander, improved to 15-0, 13 KOs.

Frank defended his New Jersey State heavyweight belt, the value of which was underscored by the quality of the challenger. With the loss, Mallard’s record fell to 1-6-2, his lone win coming via knockout in his 1975 pro debut.

Still, promoter Don King -- who had kept a low profile since being humiliated on national television by World Boxing Council champion Larry Holmes before and after the latter's sixth-round knockout of Leon Holmes earlier this month -- was seen with his arm around Frank, talking quietly but quickly, as the two walked to the dressing room after the stoppage.